Garment-clasp.



No. 730,584. ,PATENTED JUNE 9, 1903.

G. E. HAWKS.

GARMENT CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17, 1903.

NO MODEL.

INVENTOB Geo. EHawes WITNESSES:

. Unrrsn STATES Patented June 9, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HAWVES & COMPANY, OF CONNECTICUT.

OF BRIDGEPOR'I, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION GARMENT-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,534, dated June 9,1903. Application filed January 17, 1903. stratum 139,444. (No model Toall whom, it may concern:

Be it'known that I, GEORGE E. HAWES, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing atBridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements inGarment-Clasps; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to certain improvements in garment-plasps, and hasfor its object to provide a simple and economical device of thisdescription which will present a maximum grasping area and which willmaintain a firm hold upon the garment to be clasped; and with these endsin View myin- Vention consists of certain details of construction andcombination of parts, such as will be hereinafter fully set forthandthen specifically be designated by the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application,Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved clasp; Fig. 2, a detailside elevation of the button element of my clasp; Fig. 3, a section atthe linen: a: of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detail bottom view of said buttonelement; Fig. 5, a detail perspective view of the button, rubber, andbutton-base elements of my improved clasp; and Fig. 6, a plan Viewillustrating the relative position of the members of myimproved claspwith the head of the button elementremoved.

Similar numbers of reference denote like parts in the several figures ofthe drawings.

Heretofore clasps of this description have been provided with a shortsection of rubber disposed loosely around the shank of the buttonelement? but when the button thus equipped was drawn down toward thelower end of the loop element of the clasp the garment would be heldbetween the sides of the opening in the loop and the shankof the button,with the rubber intervening between said 45 loop and button, and thus asawing action would be produced against the rubber, the latter beingbacked up by the rigid shank of the button.

My improvement contemplates a garment 5o clasp in which the rubber shallbe so disposed that the shank of the button simply holds the rubber inplace while there is no pressure whatever brought to bear against saidshank during the manipulations of my clasp.

l is the button-head, which has secured thereto in any suitable manner ashank that is composed of three circular-disposeddepending portions 2 34, which are separated by spaces 5 6 7.

8 is a block of rubber or other suitable material,,whose mainbodypm'liou is adapted to snugly fit within the'hollow shank formed bythe parts 2 3 4, and extending radially from said body portion are nubs9 10 11. These nubs are riangularly disposed, the nub 9, which I willhereinafter refer to as the bottom nub irojecting throu h the s ace 5 ofthe shank, which I will hereinafter refer to as the bottom space, whilethe nubs 10 11, which I will hereinafter refer to as the lateral nubs,project through the spaces 6 7 of the shank,hereinafter referred to asthe lat-- eral spaces.

The parts composing the shank are riveted I at the lower side of saidshank, while the other two points are at opposite sides of said shank,near the upper portion thereof.

13 is the loop element of my improved clasp, said loop having an openingtherein large at the upper end, as seen at 14, so as to readily admit ofthe passage therethrough of the head of the button, the walls of saidopening 14 being contracted toward the lower end, so as to afiord anarrow gate way 15, while beyond said gateway recesses 16 17-are formed,the side walls of said recesses being separated by a distance aboutequal to the distance between the nubs 10 ll of the rubber block 8,while the distance between the side walls of the gateway 15 is less thanthe distance between said nubs. these recesses the opening in the loopis contracted, as shown at 18, although this is immaterial. In otherwords, the loop of my improved clasp has an opening therein, the up-Below per portion of which is large enough to admit the head of thebutton element, said opening being contracted near its middle portionand below the latter enlarged into diametrically opposite recesses andat its lowermost end contracted.

The upper end of the loop 13 is provided with a slot 19, through whichany suitable webbing 20 may be secured, while the baseplate 12 onopposite sides of the button is provided with slots 21, through which asuitable webbing 22 may be secured, all after the manner ofgarment-clasps commonly in use.

In utilizing my improved clasp the garment is placed over the head 1 andthe latter thrust through the large opening 14, and the button is thenforced downwardly until the nubs 1O 11 strike against the side walls ofthe contracted portion at the lower end of the opening 14, the continueddownwardly thrusting of said button causing these nubs to yield,

owing to their resiliency, so as to pass be.

yond said contracted portion and expand within the recesses 16 17. Whenthese lateral nubs 1O 11 have thus passed beyond said gateway andexpanded within said recesses, the lowermost nub 9 will have fittedsnugly within the lower contracted end 18 of the opening in the loop,and it will thus be seen that there can be no accidental upward rise ofsaid button and consequent release of the garment, owing to the factthat the narrow gateway 15 will oppose said movement.

While the lowermost nub 9 does to some degree assist in clasping thegarment, nevertheless if such nub were entirely omitted the efficiencyof the clasp would not be seriously impaired, owing to the fact that thediametrically opposite nubs 10 11 will hold the garment without theslightest danger of any accidental displacement. Moreover, these nubs 1O11, fitting, as they do, snugly within the recesses 16 17, afford agripping area materially in excess of the gripping area presented by theusual form of loop and rubber-covered shank.

From the foregoing it will be clear that there can be no contact with orpressure brought to bear directly against the metal shank of the buttonand also that the rubber element is immovable, and therefore cannot rollor become cut by any sawing action of the loop.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Agarment-claspcomprisinga button element having a head, a hollowshank provided with triangularly-disposed lateral openings, a base towhich said shank is secured, a rubber body contained Within said shankand having protuberances which project through said openings beyond theshank, and a loop element provided with an opening therein havingenlarged, contracted and recessed portions, substantially as set forth.

2. Agarment-claspcomprisingabutton element having a head, a hollow shankprovided with lateral openings, a base to which said shank is secured,and a rubber block contained within said shank and having protuberanceswhich project in triangular disposition beyond said shank, and a loophaving therein an opening which at its upper end is large to permit thepassage therethrough of the head of said bu tton, said opening at thelower end of said enlarged portion being contracted and thence expandedinto recessed portions and terminating at-its lower end in a contractedportion, substantially as set forth.

3. In agarment-clasp, the combinationof a button element consisting of ahead, a shank and a base, rubber nubs triangularly disposed andextending beyond the circumference of said shank, one of said nubsprojecting at the lower face of said shank while the other two nubsextend in opposite directions at the upper part of the sides of saidshank, with a loop element having an opening therein enlarged at itsupper end to receive the head of said button and contracted below saidenlarged portion whereby the walls ofsaid contracted part are separatedby a distance less than the distance between the outer extremities ofsaid lateral nubs, said opening below said contracted portion beingexpanded into recesses whose side walls are separated by a distanceabout equal to the distance between the outer surfaces of said nubs,while the lower end of said opening is contracted whereby a snug seat isafforded for the lowermost of said nubs, substantially as set forth.

4. In a garment-clasp, comprising loop 'and button elements, thecombination of the button element having extending circumferentiallybeyond its shank triangularly-disposed rubber nubs, one of said nubsbeing at the lower part of said shank while the other two are near the,upper end of said shank and on opposite sides thereof, with the loopelement having therein an opening large at the top and small at thebottom, said opening having a contracted portion and an expanded portionintermediate of said top and bottom portions, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. HAWES.

Witnesses: F. W. SMITH, J r., M. T. LONGDEN.

